CD Reviews
by Charmin' Dee
with Mira Fisher & Big Swing Daddy

.75

This album does quite well on the arbitrary scale primarily since the performing artists are fantastic! Also about half the album is all original material and the covers are in the most part interpreted with obvious respect to some of the artists who made them famous...Lavay's frequent Billie Holliday tribute type renditions get me where it hurts!

For you Lindy Hoppers and people who want to "get a little closer" when they dance, this CD is like a dream come true! Only 3 or 4 tracks might do it for ECS dancers as well. The best tracks on the album as far as their potential to hit hard on the dance halls are without a doubt "Now or Never" and the title track "Everybody's Talkin'…". "I've got a Feeling" really did it for Mira and I really got off on the features in "Honey Pie". Finally "You Snooze You Lose" on only one track: "I Wanna Lil' Boy" was a definite skiparoo!

On the more arbitrary side of things, let me say first off that reviewing with Mira was just heaven!!! I think we didn't disagree once on anything aside from the positive or negative impact of the Latino sounds of "I've Got a Feeling". We both thought that this is an album that would rate more like a 4.5 if we were reviewing strictly as lindy hoppers as it is severely biased towards that crowd. We both agreed that the players were the best part of this album (listen for Chris on "Sent 4 U Yesterday"!), and the arrangements are also quite good. This album definitely has a lounge quality that makes it transcend the swing scene.

Unfortunately we also have to admit that the recording could be better, we had the impression at times that a particular soloist was coming in over a CB from Zimbabwe, as the recording level was so different! Also the song "I Want a Lil' Boy" kinda breaks the flow in the album as it's a "skip" and is situated smack dab' in the middle of the record. We also thought that Lavay puts a lot into some songs and not so much in others. For instance I thought "Roll the Boogie" could have been THE hit on this album if the voice could have been punchier. But that obviously is balanced by some great interpretations on "Miss New Orleans", "Now or Never" and "Big Fine Daddy".

Finally this IS a Lavay Smith CD with all the sensuality and sexual overtones you'd expect - gotta' love it!

As closing comments I would like to say thanks to Lavay, Chris and the crew on their visit to Montreal and the East Coast this summer. To you people booking bands out there, aside from an important following, they will out-do themselves even under the most tense circumstances, so I recommend them strongly!

And to all you would be CD buyers, this one's a breeze, thanks to great local contacts, this CD is available just about everywhere!!!

All the Best!
Dee.

If you have questions, comments, would like to join the next review panel or have your album reviewed, e-mail Dee!

THE 5-MARTINI RATING SYSTEM Each song on the album is evaluated for each criteria and the total number of martinis is then divided by the number of songs to arrive at an average for the album. Up to five martinis are awarded to each song based on the following criteria:
Recording Quality	Can you actually hear the music on the album? Is it well mastered, etc.
Skip/Snooze Potential	Is this song a definite skip on the CD or are you prone to fall asleep during this song? Obviously the martini is given if this IS NOT THE CASE!!!
Danceability	Since we swingers are dancers this is an important one. Whether it be Jive, ECS, Lindy who cares, as long as you can shake a limb!!!
Musicality	It's a cover of a well known song that brings something new to the table; the band/vocalists are great; the material is original, be it with regards to composition, style, sound etc.
Hit Potential	Is this song one that would at best find it's way to a home compilation CD or is it a definite HIT waiting to happen.